Alpha Protocol Rewards Sexual Abstinence, Too

NEW YORK — Although the sex scenes in Alpha Protocol are touted as being racier than the controversial one in Mass Effect, you don’t have to participate in them. In fact, you’re rewarded if you choose not to do so.

During a press event in a Manhattan hotel Tuesday, Sega assistant producer Matt Hickman demonstrated the upcoming spy-themed RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, which has similar gameplay elements and dialogue trees to Mass Effect.

While the 2007 best-selling BioWare title had one optional yet infamous love scene, Hickman said the male protagonist in Alpha Protocol can have up to four sexual encounters. If the player cultivates close relationships with several of the female characters, the love-making can occur. Score with every woman, and you get the “Ladies’ Man” Achievement.

But if you’re not interested in watching virtual characters making whoopee (we’re sure you aren’t), you’ll also get an Achievement for remaining celibate.

However, Hickman contended that if you decide to go all the way with the women, it will be worth it.

“It’s pretty provocative,” he said. “And there’s one that actually has a couple of ways it can go depending on how you react in the middle of it.”

Wait, in “the middle” of it? To clarify, Hickman said the decision-making wouldn’t necessarily happen “during the act,” but declined to give further details so as to not ruin the story.

“I can say it’s one of my favorite scenes,” he said, “and it’s hilarious when it happens. It’s just so unexpected when it comes and how it plays out… it’s great.”

I wondered if the developers were concerned about any media backlash, considering the fracas surrounding Mass Effect. Hickman said it’s not something the developers were thinking about.

“The thing is, (the sex scenes are) really tastefully done and they fit into the story and with the character,” he said. “So while you can miss them and not miss anything, if you get them, it really adds to the character, because the only way you’re really going to get them is by playing through the game as that guy. So if you get to those scenes, it’s really just going to really accentuate those two characters.”

Alpha Protocol designer Chris Avellone recently defended sex in videogames, arguing that including such mature moments is not only necessary, but to leave them out would be an “injustice” to the RPG genre.